ISRAEL: Facebook
censors the US Constitution
Social protest is
surging in Israel, and the internet is increasingly perceived by
Israeli authorities as a threat. In response - the authorities
increasingly abuse Freedom of Speech, at times reaching absurd
levels. Arabs are often arrested for what are deemed offensive
posts, Jews are typically only blocked. In a case today - Facebook blocked a comment, which was a direct quote of the 13th Amendment to the US Constitution.
Tel-Aviv, October 27
– over the past couple of years, online censorship by Facebook and
retaliation by Israeli authorities in collusion with Facebook, has
dramatically increased, at times reaching absurd levels.
Haaretz reported
earlier this week that a Palestinian construction worker was
arrested, because his “good morning to all” Facebook “status”
was erroneously translated by Facebook as a violent message. Police
apparently relied on automated Facebook monitoring and automated
Facebook translation. [i]
Figure.
A Facebook “status”, which
led to the arrest of a Palestinian. The Arabic original reads: “good
morning to all”, nothing else. The automated Facebook translation
into Hebrew says: “Harm
them”.
____
No less bizarre is
the blocking within seconds of a comment, entered on a friend’s
post, which was a direct quote of the 13th Amendment to
the US Constitution.
Figure. Facebook blocking notification: “Your comment on Yuri polashtzuk’s post was marked as spam review the comment.”
Figure. The blocked comment: “Here – the language of the 13th Amendment to the US Constitution, which was enacted following the Civil War, and which permits slavery as punishment under Due Process of Law! Slavery has never been abolished in the US. In 2010 (!) the UN called upon the US to finally abolish slavery!” The text is followed by the language of the 13th Amendment and a link to the Wikipedia entry for the 13th Amendment.
_____
The post addressed
conditions in the US prison system today. A previous comment, which
was a link to ACLU’s publication, “The Prison Crisis”, was not
blocked. The blocking was most likely an automatic function, since
the immediate posting of an image of the exact same text and link as
a comment was not blocked.
In response, Israeli protest activists recently called for a protest
against Facebook in the Tel-Aviv Facebook tower lobby, which is
public space due to a strange easement, which permitted Facebook to
extend the tower onto public land. Three hours before the event’s
scheduled time, notice was posted on the tower’s doors, stating
that a “security consultant” issued guidelines that the event –
screening of the “Facebookistan” video - would not be possible.
Considerable police force blocked the event from taking place. [iv]
In parallel, the
Israeli courts are increasing their punitive measures in retaliation
for online publications by social activists, e.g., protest against
the banking system, [v]
and against the family courts. [vi]
In contrast, following
an
early 2017 wave of
blocking Israeli journalists, particularly ones who were
critical of Facebook, [vii]
major
lawsuit was filed against Facebook, but was blocked by the courts.
[viii]
Figure. Palestinian calls for boycotting Facebook,
following the blocking of Palestinian media in East Jerusalem.
____
LINKS
iv
Facebook behind an attempt to block the screening of
“Facebookistan”? | Globes
v
Israel: The bloggers and the vengeful judges | OpEdNews.com
vi
When it comes to the First Amendment - Israel scores an "F"
| OpEdNews.com
vii
Israeli journalists accuse Facebook of infringing on freedom of
speech | Times of Israel
viii
NIS 300 million lawsuit against Facebook Israel, following closing
personal profiles | Mizbala
ix Palestinian
activists boycott facebook for two hours | Jerusalem post
x Is
Facebook neutral on Palestine-Israel conflict? | Al-Jazeera
